Time For Barton To Tweet Less & Play QPR Out Of Trouble Having the club captain call your former manager Mike Bassett in a vitriolic attack on Twitter is probably not the ideal way to prepare for a crucial relegation battle but life at QPR has rarely been ideal over the last decade or so. Joey Barton prepared for his sideâs vital 3-1 victory over Wigan by quoting Arctic Monkeys â lyrics in response to the haters who are inexorably attracted to his gnomic wisdom like moths to the flame. Neil Warnock âs sacking earlier in January left many QPR fans disappointed. Whilst there was a general acknowledgement that he had made a series of tactical errors this season and had often failed to show the nous that less experienced managers like Brendan Rodgers and Paul Lambert have demonstrated, Rangersâ supporters were still grateful for the job that he had done since taking over in March 2010. After winning last seasonâs Championship, Warnock was handicapped by the ongoing sale of the club during the close season by Tango and Cash, AKA Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone. Unwilling to invest further in a club that they were looking to offload, Warnock was unable to pursue some of his transfer targets including the likes of Swanseaâs close season signing Danny Graham. Instead he had to make do with free transfers like Danny Gabbidon, Kieron Dyer and Jay Bothroyd with the only outlay the £1.25 million spent on DJ Campbell. This left Rangers playing catch-up as the season began and a 4-0 opening day home defeat to Bolton soon dissipated any Premier League optimism. When new owner Tony Fernandes arrived soon after Warnock was finally able to splash the cash on Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Luke Young, Armand Traore and Anton Ferdinand but Rangers are still suffering from their close season malaise. Their leading scorer is a 34-year-old who often looked sluggish in the Championship, their central defence continues to be exposed by the extra quality of Premier League attackers and star performers from last season like Adel Taarabt and Paddy Kenny have struggled with form and injury. Warnock paid with his job but there are now an increasing number of Rangers fans growing disillusioned with Barton. Many thought they were getting a combative and tough-tackling midfielder who would bolster the middle of the park but in reality heâs proved to be a surprisingly skilful enabler who links play together. Apart from his displays away to Wolves and Stoke heâs been decent rather than spectacular but when youâre telling the world and his wife just how good you think you are, being decent isnât enough. When Barton was abusing Z-list celebrities like the cast of The Only Way Is Essex his diatribes were amusing enough but attacking a manager who Rangers fans hold in affection so soon after his departure is undignified and churlish. Now Barton has the opportunity to win back their support. In Rangersâ previous home match against Norwich he looked decent, scoring a goal before being harshly sent off following an off-the-ball confrontation with Bradley Johnson . With Rangersâ Premier League survival in the balance, itâs time for him to let his feet do the talking. this article about that article is more optomistic about our captain showing his skilful enablings than i am
I think it's fair to say that Barton has been a disappointment since his arrival. His tweeting has brought unwanted attention on our club. IMHO i could take the publicity (sometimes embarassing) if his performances on the pitch were up to scratch. We are now entering a crucial part of our season. The next 8-10 games will define our season. We need Joey to show us the player that he can be. We need him to play a captains role on the pitch and lead by example. If he plays well and leads us to safety i think most people would be willing to forgive his sometimes ridiculous rants or tweeeeeeeeeeeets. Time for the real Joey to take a step forward.
on the whole he has been a major dissapointment this season..and many people posted that along with NW he should have got sacked too.. Now..FTR..i dont like him, but we need someone like him ( who actually turns up) to do a job... so i agre with previous post... Wil the reall Joey Barton please stand up.....and be counted !!
the real joey barton could quite possibly be an asset but we seem to have employed his half witted twin brother
